Where Do You Keep Your Chocolate?

Wherever you keep your chocolate, the one place you should never keep it in, is the fridge. Read more to find out why.

Onions, Garlic, Avocados, Tomatoes, Jams & Salad Dressings, just a few of the things that don't fare well in fridges. Just like chocolate.

Chocolate Bloom

When chocolate is refrigerated, the temperature drop / moisture content in the air, can react with the surface of the chocolate, creating a bloom (dull or white powdery finish - the result of sugar crystals accumulating on the chocolate's surface).

Whilst it's still perfectly safe to eat, the resulting finish can be unsightly.

Chocolate removed from a fridge and allowed to warm to room temperature can also cause the chocolate to bloom. If you must store your chocolate in the fridge, the advice is to make sure its wrapped tightly to prevent condensation reaching the chocolate surface, and wrapping in a towel to slow down the warming process when you take the chocolate out of the fridge.

Best Stored

Chocolate is best stored in a well ventilated, dark cupboard. An old-fashioned pantry is ideal. Beware of other food items with strong odours being placed too near to the chocolate. Chocolate bars should be wrapped over, and bags of cooking chocolate chips should be sealed over or use an airtight container, once bags are opened. Callebaut produce many of their couvertures / chocolate chips with resealable bags.

Secret Supply

Whilst its unnecessary to hide your chocolate in the style of an Indiana Jones adventure, some of us do go to extraordinary lengths to keep our chocolate hidden, but beware, that un-used casserole dish at the back of the cupboard could mistakenly find its way into the oven!

Seriously though, it is a good idea to keep chocolate away from pets - particularly dogs, for whom chocolate is poisonous and can be fatal or children & adults with certain food allergies, that may not stop to consider whether the particular chocolate is suitable for them.